large salyan arrived

C

Cliff Stamp

BANNED
Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
17,562
This khukuri arrived friday. Upon a brief visual inspection and handling there are a number of geometry aspects that should give it a very strong advantage over my AK.

The Salyan blade is very wide, meaning that it is significantly heavier than an AK of the same length. And of course the angle of the overall grind is lower meaning penetration will be helped by two factors. I did some light work on pine and I could readily see a difference in favor of the Salyan.

Another strong point is that the handle on the Salyan is longer and thicker than the one of the 22" AK so I have a new favorite in terms of grips as well. A heavier blade means you can have a bigger handle and still get the right balance. It is not quite a two handed model but it is getting there.

Now for the downside, the edge on the blade is a little too soft. I did some work with it and it impacted more than what I would like. I discussed this with Bill and it is going back for Kami to have a look at and probably be reworked in shop 2.

I will know more about the geometry after it comes back but the very wide blade does have some very nice features over the slimmer ones. Probably the strongest is the longer and thicker handle. I would wonder for example about a smaller version. The 15" AK I find a little cramped, a 15" Salyan would be more comfortable.

Anyway, to put this in relative terms, what I did to impact the Salyan I have discussed with 3 high end knife makers before on this board and on knifeforms. The results there were drastically different from Bill's, who actually asked me to post this thread.

-Cliff
 
The thickness of the blade undoubtedly contributed to the undertempering of the edge. Since they haven't done this before, or in a very long time at least, prudence would appear to dictate pouring the water carefully, when in fact, the water would have to be poured faster and at a higher volume to compensate for the blade thickness retarding the cooling rate. Or that's how it seems to me. Ain't doing the R&D thing fun?
 
Wait a minute - Cliff, the yeti, is pondering the possibility of a 15" version?

Notice also that everyone else who has reported getting one has required some time to adjust to the reality of such a thing really existing. Not Cliff. He just takes it in stride and starts testing it.
 
I think we received six Salyans. I tested a couple and found them to be of the usual high quality. Because I am too busy to test every khukuri the rest I left to the customers, including Cliff, to test in the field.

GONESAILING and the others with the exception of Rusty (I think) have put their Salyans to rigorous field testing. GONESAILING has given his Salyan extreme testing and it held up fine. Cliff got one that was just a little too soft on the edge -- at least for Cliff. Probably it would be fine for a normal user but Cliff is not a normal user. I am almost certain Cliff's Salyan is the only one like this.

Cliff loved the knife and wanted to know if we could get the edge a little harder and return the knife to him. This is exactly what we will do. When Kami returns to Nepal after his visit he will take the Salyan back with him, reharden the blade in shop 2, and send the knife back to me and thence to Cliff.

There is a reason I am happy to see this post here. The Himalayan Imports khukuris have fared so well in testing performed by Cliff & Co. that there are a few who have doubts about the authenticity of the tests -- not many but a few. Cliff mentioned to me that he received email from a fellow accusing him and me of being the same person! I think almost everybody knows by now that Cliff is on the up and up and tells it like it is and plays no favorites as his post here demonstrates.

I would like to point out that Cliff has personally paid for every Himalayan Imports khukuri he has received from me (about 7 or 8 to date) with the exception of the villager that was too ugly and flawed to sell and I am sure he has cancelled checks to prove this. Some people will give a knife in exchange for a favorable review. Himalayan Imports does not participate in this practice nor does Cliff.

Thanks Cliff for continued great testing!

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 19 August 1999).]
 
You are right, Uncle Bill, with this respiratory problem I'd be out of breath just walking out to the stump carrying Sumo.
 
Rusty, if I quit smoking I doubt that I could breate at all. Your respiratory system is undergoing a major change. However, I am confident your Salyan will do anything you ask it to do.

Uncle Bill
 

I quit smoking a few months ago using the Nicoderm patch, and had no problems at all. I had tried 4 or 5 times before, and quit for a few weeks at a time, but it was never easy or lasting. So if you are thinking about quitting, give the patch a try.

Apologies for having nothing to say about khukris in this post.




------------------
Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen
 
Fear not, Jeff. Nepal has a cigarette brand called "Khukuri". I even have a couple of packs on the shelf behind me. I don't smoke them unless it's an emergency situation and I have nothing else.

The last attempt I made to quit was about 35 years ago -- lasted ten days.

Uncle Bill
 
HaHaHa.
Someone thinks you and Cliff are the same person?
Bill, in today's enviroment of spin ect, probably to some, the testing Cliff and others have done seems to be more than one could expect from blades made of surplus spring steel and hand tools.
If you remember I challanged Cliff to do anything HUMANLY possible to break or damage his salyan when it arrived. However, he did not need my urging to stress test his new arrival. I picture him like that polar bear on the old commercial for samsonite luggage on tv. Jumping up and down on it, throwing it against the wall, chewing it.
smile.gif

"Stubby", my salyan has stood up to the most strenuous evdevors my imagination could dream up. (But I am not even in the same league as Cliff)
Using both hands and holding it like a bat and whacking it on the sides against an oak stump was just for warming up. This was a home run type of swing from someone who wieghs over 200 lbs. Loud ringing but solid.
Split oak logs 18 inches long and up to 14 inches in diameter by sinking it in and banging the hell out of the spine with a large branch previously chopped from the felled tree. The shape and thickness of the blade made this kind of splitting fast, fun, and easy. Even 2" branches would fly off with one or two swings if I could hit them. In comparison, the WW11 would take five or more.
One tree trunk was levered up using pressure on the handle, and trying to bend the blade was futile. I wedged it between two oak stumps and pushed, pulled until muscle cramps stopped me.
When bucking up the trunk, the cuts with the chain saw were stopped before they were through on some of the cuts due to the gravel.
Stubby chopped the remaining 1/4 or so of these cuts after rolling it over. No exaust or loud noise for my neighbors to hear.
One thing not tried was chopping through nails or metal. A few glancing blows from my poor aim did imbed in 3/4 minus gravel with no visable damage, but no direct anvil chopping was involved.
smile.gif

The question for me now is to see if stubby can chop nails. I am not too comfortable doing this. Not because of anything other than; is this a use for which it was purchased?
I know Bill will honor the HI warranty and all.
It is just too nice to be a bolt cutter!
smile.gif


Cliff, you have got to have some kind of mischevious streak to do this hard testing on all of the knives you use.
smile.gif
smile.gif


If stubby gets hungry enough to chomp nails the results will be posted on the forum. Currently his diet of wood and a bit of gravel for roughage is sufficient.
Jim


------------------
What? Another knife? Don't you have enough of those things already?
How many does one person need?
And just what are you going to do with this one that you can't do with the others?
What is the purpose of all these knives anyhow??

 

I smoked Pall Mall, Chesterfield, Old Gold, Lucky Strike, and when I wanted something lighter, Winston. Then I tried some foreign cigs - Pravda was quite strong, and Ducados just made me ill. I can't imagine what Nepali cigarettes must taste like. <shudder>

You're welcome to 'em, Uncle Bill.

------------------
Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen
 
Jeff: the nicoderm patch did work for me. I'd have been in the hospital if this thing had hit me while I was still smoking. It's three months+ now. Didn't really want to smoke either ( commit murder, that is another story ). Smoked from entering college @ age 16 to a month before my 49th birthday. I still get mad at non-smoking restaurants and at people who have to save me from myself, cause if they didn't they'd have to look themselves in in the mirror.

You have to want to do it for yourself in spite of the busybodies who want to run your life for you. It is worth it. I did it without another cigarette, took an extra week on half a pack a day before I stopped, but once I said that was that, it was. It really is something nice to do for yourself. Not killing the dogooders does wonders for your spirituality too, vis a vis tolerance; longsuffering; and resisting temptation. And you wouldn't believe how sharp it got my khukuris.
 
:
GONESAILING:

Hey. That's some serious testing you had going on. Oak is pretty solid wood. If stubby ever needs some nails to chop, just let me know and I'll take both of you down to the river to chop up the rest of the nails!
smile.gif


Seriously, perhaps we could take advantage of our geographic proximity and stage the ULTIMATE MACHO KHUKURI TEST-- 20" Stubby Salyan vs. 22" Ang Khola, head to head.

Whaddaya think?

-Dave

------------------
"Smooth Bastard..."
 

I'm just up in Scappoose - but I don't think I have a 'qualifying' knife for this match-up. Salyan v. Ang Khola v. tiny little village sirupati.

There seems to be a cluster of us here in the Portland / Scappoose / Camas metropolitan area...


------------------
Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen
 
Jim, all I can say is Cliff and I being the same man is Cliff has hair 20 times longer than mine, 20 times darker, is 20 times stronger but only outweighs me about 100 pounds and is only two inches taller. I don't think many people would have much trouble telling us apart.

One guy with a Salyan, the other with a 20 (22?) inch AK walking out to tackle a tree together. Boys, please don't scare the nighbors!

Uncle Bill
 
Could not stand it!!!
Came home from work early and descided Stubby needed some more minerals in his diet.
Started off cutting copper wire to work up my confidence. Next some romex, then small finishing nails. Chewing them up with gusto.
For the finalle, a short stubby 8 penny nail.
Both sides of the nail went flying and the blade was in the oak. I carefully worked it out. A small rolled area about 1/2 the size of the nail was visable in the blade.
I carefully pounded it back with a hammer and a large cresent underneith for support. It came back well, but I tapped it a few times without the support (easier to see with bi-ficals if I held it up) and a small piece came off. It is about 1.5mm by 2mm. The blade is so large you need to look closely to see it. Next time I will only hammer with support under it!! Who am I kidding, I won't do this again!
Compared to what Cliff does in his tests, this is mild stuff. But for me, it is all I need to be satisfied. Stubby should be able to adequatly perform any tasks that this forumite will ask of him, and last me a long while.
Jim
 
:
LOLOL.
Cliff is used to the harder blades that are standard and has said before _I think_ or something like this,"The H.I. Kuhkuri's have set a new standard as to what knives should be up here."

I sure hope I got that Right!!!!
Correct me if I am wrong on that Cliff,Uncle.

Jim,wait untill the newness wears off.
smile.gif
I think Cliff remarked one time what his 20" AK looked like.
That has to be a Kuhkuri with Character!!
I have a couple of dings in the spine of my 18" AK and I am sure there will be more between now and late fall.
The Scotch Brite does an excellent job of cleaning it up.

Well guys I have been tobacco free since last Sept.
I miss smoking and always will.
I could use some Ceremony as an exuse to use tobacco,but I won't do that.
It comes down to another one of those "Holy Things" for me and others like me that follow the old ways of our Grandfathers.

Like Jeff and some of you other guys I smoked the hard stuff.All of the U.S.ones that Jeff mentioned,besides some others.When I was in boot camp at Ft.Polk I smoked Picayune's. I always had smokes.You could sure tell when someone was hard up.
They would ask for a smoke an I would pull them out and they would say,"I will see if so and so has any."
smile.gif

If they took one of mine they were hard up.
I learned how to smoke P.A. and to roll them from my infamous Aunt Myrtle. Now there was a real Cherokee Woman.I can tell you stories,but not in an open forum like this.( VBESEG)


------------------


&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;---¥vsa----&gt;®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.

 
Gonesailing :

Cliff, you have got to have some kind of mischevious streak to do this hard testing on all of the knives you use.
Click to expand...

I do this with everything, not just knives. Sometimes people are no so understanding as Bill.

I worked with my uncle about 9 years ago in construnction. On my first day I noticed that his hammer was much more expensive than the one I was using. I had bought mine the day before and just picked one of the cheaper ones. He layed it down before he went to lunch so I quickly seized the chance to compare the two. The grip was similar and both were comfortable. I locked the heads down and pulled back and forth on the handle and both held fine. The only thing I could figure was that the faces must be different. So I took mine and hammered into a nail point up and sure enough got a nice big dent in the face. I then was just about to repeat this with my uncles when he saw me. He didn't quite have my sense of experimentation but agreed to a comparasion of the hardness of the faces and offered to smack me in the head with both so I could feel the difference.

Glad to see your khukuri held up, the wide blade gives really nice performance.

Yvsa :

Correct me if I am wrong on that Cliff
Click to expand...

Yes, like I said above, what I did would not be reacted to well to by many.

-Cliff
 
Cliff,

You just did the impossible. You made me openly laugh at 0830 before I've had my 2nd cup of coffee. Good story.

By the way, I just got a razors edge on my villager and my AK yesterday. I used a Smith's hard Arkansas stone like I have been using. Problem? I wasn't pressing hard enough! Some light stropping on the leather sheath for the stone brought the razor right out. Finally!!!

Mike
 
That was a funny story. If you notice Cliff has his own brand of humor and it works for me.

When we get that Salyan back to Cliff with the shop 2 "ideal hardness" it will have a distinction no other Salyan will have. It will have logged 50,000 miles!.

Good test session, Jim. Let us know how you and Dave fare.

Uncle Bill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top